Sally Ride (1951-2012)

As the first American woman to soar into space, Sally Ride became a symbol of the ability of women to shatter barriers. But Sally’s historic flight represented just one aspect of a remarkable and multifaceted life. She was also a physicist, a coauthor of science books for young people, and an inspirational advocate for science education.

Sally Kristen Ride was born on May 26, 1951, in Los Angeles, California, and she spent her childhood there. Her father, Dale, was a political science teacher, and her mother, Joyce, was a volunteer counselor for women in prison. When Sally was 2, her sister, Karen, was born. Sally’s early efforts to say “Karen” gave her sister a lasting nickname—“Bear.”

As a young girl, Sally was fascinated by science, and she credited her parents with encouraging her interest. She grew up playing with a chemistry set and a telescope. She also grew up playing sports, especially tennis. She competed in national junior tennis tournaments and was good enough to win a tennis scholarship to the elite Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles.

Sally’s friends at Westlake knew her as an underachiever who was sometimes bored with her studies. But Sally did find inspiration in one class. Dr. Elizabeth Mommaerts, her physiology teacher, helped nurture the teenager’s passion for science.

After graduating from Westlake, Sally attended Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania for three semesters. But she began to worry that she was missing a chance for a pro tennis career, so she decided to return home. Back in Los Angeles, she practiced tennis diligently. On the side, she took courses on Shakespeare and physics at the University of California Los Angeles. Ultimately, she decided that physics was a better career choice for her. Asked later what made her decide against a tennis career, she laughed and answered, “a bad forehand.”

In 1970 Sally entered Stanford University near Palo Alto, California, as a junior. She earned bachelor’s degrees in physics and English and was also the top player on the Stanford women’s tennis team. Sally remained at Stanford to pursue her master’s degree and PhD in physics, focusing her research on how X-rays interact with the interstellar medium.

 

BECOMING AN ASTRONAUT

In 1977, Sally was finishing her PhD when she saw an article in the Stanford student newspaper saying that NASA was looking for astronauts. Up until then, most astronauts had been military pilots. And although two Russian women had flown in space, America’s astronauts had all been male. But now NASA was looking for scientists and engineers, and was allowing women to apply.

Sally read over the qualifications and said to herself, “I’m one of those people.” She immediately sent in her application—along with 8,000 other hopefuls. She went through interviews and medical exams at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and then waited to hear if she had made the cut.

In January 1978, Sally got word that she had been chosen as one of 35 new astronauts. Five other women also were selected. The recruits, who called themselves the Thirty-Five New Guys, enjoyed a camaraderie that lasted well beyond their initial training.

Sally and the five other female astronauts worked hard to show the world that women were up to the job. Astronaut training included parachute jumping, water survival, weightlessness, radio communications, and navigation. Sally had a combination of qualities—competitiveness, athletic ability, intellect, and coolness under pressure—that allowed her to excel in the training. She enjoyed flight training so much that flying became one of her hobbies

During the second and third flights of the space shuttle Columbia, Sally worked on the ground as a communications officer (CAPCOM), relaying messages from mission control to shuttle crews. She also was part of the team that developed the robot arm used by shuttle crews to deploy and retrieve satellites.

 

SPACE MISSIONS

After the training and evaluation period, the new astronauts were eligible for assignment to a space shuttle flight crew. One morning in April 1982, the director of flight operations at Johnson Space Center called Sally into his office. She has been chosen to be the first woman on a NASA shuttle mission. Sally would be a mission specialist on flight STS-7 aboard the shuttle Challenger.

Once NASA announced her selection, Sally instantly became one of the most famous people in America. She was under a media spotlight, appearing on magazine covers and being interviewed on network news shows. Sally was a deeply private person, and she disliked all the attention. But when the media peppered her with questions—including many focused on her sex—she answered gamely.

At a NASA news conference, she dismissed the fuss over her groundbreaking status. “It’s too bad this is such a big deal,” she said. “It’s too bad our society isn’t further along.”

One reporter asked Sally if she cried when she was under pressure. “Why doesn’t anyone ask Rick that question?” she responded, referring to her crewmate Rick Hauck.

Sally’s accomplishments—and her unflappable demeanor—inspired many Americans, especially women and girls. A crowd of 250,000 gathered at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, for the launch of her first flight on June 18, 1983. When Challenger blasted off, Sally soared into history as the first American woman in space. At 32, she also became the youngest American to fly in space

Accompanying Sally aboard Challenger were Robert Crippen, the shuttle commander; Hauck, the pilot; and fellow mission specialists John Fabian and Norman Thagard. This was the second flight for the orbiter Challenger and the first mission with a five-person crew.

During the mission, Sally used the robot arm she had skillfully mastered to capture a satellite as it hurtled around Earth. She learned quickly how to move in weightlessness as she completed her scientific tasks. The mission lasted six days, making ninety-six orbits and covering 2.5 million miles, before Challenger landed on a lakebed runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 24. Sally had shown the world that a woman could perform just as ably as any man on a space mission.

“The thing that I’ll remember most about the flight is that it was fun,” she said after the landing. “In fact, I’m sure it was the most fun I’ll ever have in my life.”

Sally’s second flight was the 13th shuttle flight, STS 41-G, which launched from Kennedy Space Center on October 5, 1984. The crew of seven—the largest to date for a shuttle mission— included another female astronaut, Kathryn Sullivan. During the 8-day mission, the crew deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite and conducted scientific observations of Earth. After 197 hours in flight, Challenger landed at Kennedy Space Center on October 13.

In June 1985, Sally began training for another shuttle mission, STS 61-M. But then, on January 28, 1986, Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all seven crewmembers. The tragedy stunned the nation and forced NASA to put shuttle launches on hold.

Sally, heartbroken by the loss of her friends on the Challenger crew, soon was named to the presidential commission investigating the tragedy. She asked tough questions during the probe, zeroing in on NASA’s lack of attention to signs of trouble on earlier shuttle flights. 

After the Challenger investigation was completed, Sally was assigned to NASA headquarters as special assistant to the administrator for long-range and strategic planning. There she wrote an influential report on America’s future in space and became the first director of NASA’s Office of Exploration.

During her time at NASA, Sally grew close to fellow astronaut Steve Hawley. The two married in 1982, but the marriage ended in divorce. In 1985 Sally began a long-distance relationship with her childhood friend Tam O’Shaughnessy. The two had met while playing on the junior tennis circuit and had remained in touch over the years.

 

BEYOND SPACE

Sally retired from NASA in 1987 and became a science fellow at the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford University. In 1989, she joined the faculty at the University of California San Diego as a professor of physics and director of the California Space Institute. Tam joined Sally in San Diego, and the two lived there as partners until Sally’s death.

Sally had long been an advocate for better science education. She collaborated with her friend Sue Okie on a children’s book about flying on the shuttle—To Space and Back. Then Sally began working with Tam to cowrite science books for young people—Voyager, The Third Planet, The Mystery of Mars, Exploring Our Solar System, Mission: Planet Earth, and Mission: Save the Planet. The books were well received; The Third Planet won the American Institute of Physics Children’s Science Writing Award.

On February 1, 2003, space shuttle Columbia disintegrated while returning to Earth, killing all seven crewmembers. Although Sally was retired from NASA, she again served on the commission probing the tragedy, becoming to only person to sit on the investigative panels for both of the nation’s shuttle disasters.

Sally maintained her ties to NASA and eventually led two public outreach programs for the space agency. Inspired by the views of Earth she had seen from the space shuttle window, she started a program called EarthKAM. It allowed students all over the world to request images of Earth from a camera on the space shuttle. The program, renamed Sally Ride EarthKAM, still conducts regular missions using a camera on the International Space Station. Sally also coordinated public outreach for GRAIL MoonKAM, which allowed students to capture images of the lunar surface from cameras on twin satellites orbiting the moon.

After leaving NASA, Sally had kept a low profile. In 2001, though, she decided to use her name to promote a cause she cared about deeply—inspiring students, especially girls, to study science and to consider careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Sally joined Tam and three friends to start a company called Sally Ride Science.

“It’s no secret that I’ve been reluctant to use my name for things,” she told The New York Times. “I haven’t written my memoirs or let the television movie be made about my life. But this is something I’m very willing to put my name behind.”

Sally served as CEO of Sally Ride Science, which put on science festivals for girls and created innovative classroom materials, classroom programs, and professional development training for teachers. The company focused on the upper elementary and middle school grades, when girls and boys tend to drift away from science.

After Sally’s death, Sally Ride Science joined UC San Diego to form a nonprofit entity. Tam is executive director of Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego, which carries on the company’s legacy with innovative STEM programs.

Sally helped drive the national conversation on science and education. She was a member of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, and she served on the boards of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, Aerospace Corporation, and California Institute of Technology. She received many honors, including induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, California Hall of Fame, and Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Sally was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2011. After a 17-month battle with the disease, she died on July 23, 2012. She was 61.

In November 2013, she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In a White House ceremony, President Barack Obama presented Sally’s medal to Tam, saying, “Sally inspired us to reach for the stars, and she advocated for a greater focus on the science, technology, engineering, and math that would help us get there.”

Tam donated some of Sally’s most significant possessions and papers to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The Sally K. Ride Collection, which went on display in 2015, allows museum visitors and scholars to learn about Sally’s life and influence.

In 2016, the U.S. Navy commissioned the oceanographic research vessel Sally Ride and based it in San Diego in Sally’s honor. It is the first naval research ship named after a woman.